The invention relates to a linear drive comprising a drive unit having a drive housing and comprising an output slide which is located on the outside of the drive housing and guided for linear movement relative thereto to perform a reciprocating movement oriented in the axial direction of a longitudinal axis, wherein the output slide comprises a single-piece slide body having a guide section with a U-shaped cross-section and consisting of a plate-shaped central section and of guide limbs arranged at opposite long sides of the central section and projecting downwards towards the drive housing, and having a drive limb arranged at an end face of the central section and likewise projecting downwards, wherein the guide limbs are used for the linear guidance of the output slide and the drive limb is drive-coupled to at least one drive section of the drive unit, which projects out from the drive housing.
The invention further relates to a method for the production of such a linear drive.
A linear drive of the type referred to above and known from DE 33 30 933 A1 comprises an output slide which is mounted for linear movement on a drive housing of a drive unit and which can be driven by the drive unit to perform a linear reciprocating movement. The output slide comprises a single-piece slide body and receives the actuating force required for performing the reciprocating movement from a piston rod which projects from the drive housing and acts on a downward-projecting drive limb of the slide body. The drive limb is located at an end face of a plate-shaped central section of the slide body, which at the same time forms a part of a guide section and for this purpose has two guide limbs arranged alongside and projecting downwards, which cooperate with the drive housing for the linear guidance of the output slide by way of a roller bearing device. The drawing in DE 33 30 933 A1 shows that the single-piece slide body has been produced from a material blank by machining, which is very time-consuming, so that the production of the known linear drive is likely to involve high costs.
From DE 10 2011 016 282 A1, a linear drive is known to have an output slide with a multi-part slide body, which comprises a single-piece guide section referred to as sliding table and an end plate separately mounted thereon and connected to at least one piston rod for power transmission. The production costs of this linear drive can be reduced by press-forming. However, the assembly of this linear drive involves precise operations in order to ensure a low-friction operation, which has a negative effect on production costs.